JERUSALEM -- Associated Press, 5 July: Israelis and Palestinians accused each other of plotting more attacks in violation of a cease-fire, while the U.N. Mideast envoy pleaded Thursday for a "referee" to rule on the conflicting claims.

In Ramallah, a 39-year-old Palestinian was killed during a gunfight between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers guarding Psagot, a Jewish settlement nearby, Palestinians said. Witnesses said Nasser Abed was playing soccer when he was hit by a bullet.

The Israeli military said Palestinians fired on an army vehicle near Psagot, and soldiers returned the fire.

"While we respect the cease-fire and all the agreements, Arafat doesn't. We have a problem dealing with someone who is waging war against us," Ben-Eliezer said.

While Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made his first trip to Europe since taking office in March, his Cabinet ministers were at odds over how to deal with Arafat.

The Maariv and Yediot Ahronot dailies said that in a stormy session of Israel's security Cabinet on Wednesday, three ministers demanded Israel launch a massive strike against the Palestinian Authority and topple Arafat. Maariv quoted Sharon as telling the Cabinet that it was a mistake to rely on Arafat to prevent attacks on Israelis.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres advocated restraint and came under fire from hard-line ministers, though in the end the Cabinet decided to stick to the truce. However, the ministers reaffirmed the policy of targeted attacks against suspected Palestinian militants.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the targeted killings meant Israel was walking away from the truce. He called Sharon a "professional killer."

Meanwhile, U.N. Mideast envoy Terje Roed-Larsen called for a mediator who could rule on the disputed claims and help advance the U.S.-brokered truce, which proposes a series of steps to revive peace negotiations.

The Palestinians said Wednesday that a seven-day testing period for the truce had been completed, and it was time to move to the next phase, a "cooling off period."

The Israelis say the testing period has yet to begin because of the ongoing violence, Roed-Larsen noted.

"In other words, there are two completely different images of reality here," Roed-Larsen said. "We need a referee who can tell the parties this is the image of reality that we are operating from."

However, the U.N. envoy declined to offer any specific proposals. The Palestinians are seeking greater international intervention, while the Israelis have resisted outside involvement.

Also Thursday, a bomb blast in the southern Gaza Strip wounded two young Palestinians, ages 12 and 14. It was not clear who set off the explosion near the border with Egypt.

In another development, Jewish settlers voluntarily evacuated a small roadside outpost near the Einav settlement in the West Bank. The outpost was established on the spot where an Israeli motorist was killed by Palestinian gunmen last month.

Settlers have seized more than a dozen such sites in recent months. Ben-Eliezer has said the outposts must be dismantled for security reasons, but it was not clear whether the settlers would cooperate in each case.

CHIRAC WARNS SHARON NOT TO WEAKEN ARAFAT

PARIS, July 5 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday warned against "weakening" the position of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, saying it would be "counter-productive" in the search for peace in the Middle East.

Chirac's spokeswoman, Catherine Colonna, said that he had made the warning during a one hour meeting between the leaders which she described as "interesting, confident and frank".

In a strongly worded statement issued by his spokesman, Annan said the policy violates international law and "contradicts the spirit, if not the letter, of the cease-fire agreement" brokered by CIA director George Tenet on June 13.

Brushing aside U.S. criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his closest advisers said Tuesday that Israel would stick to its policy of tracking down and killing suspected Palestinian militants in a bid to prevent Palestinian attacks that have persisted despite the truce.

A senior Palestinian official, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, called the Israeli policy "the biggest violation" yet of the faltering Mideast cease-fire.

"The secretary-general is deeply disturbed by the reported decision of the government of Israel to continue the practice of what have become known as 'targeted assassinations,'" Annan's statement said. "This policy is contrary not only to international law, in particular human rights law, but also to general principles of law."

If Israel's practice of "targeted assassinations" isn't halted, Annan said, "it is bound to further aggravate the crisis of confidence between the parties and make an already extremely fragile situation even more precarious."

The secretary-general, who has played an increasingly important role in trying to promote a restoration of the Mideast peace process, reiterated that "there is no alternative to a political settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians."

July 2001

Magazine

DISASTEROUS ARAB-AMERICAN AFFAIRS IN WASHINGTON-PART 1 (July 31, 2001) The Arabs are so weak in the Middle East and in the world for reasons that go deep into history and culture. This isn't a genetic matter, it's the way they are politically and socially organized in "modern times" that creates an absurd situation whereby a small resourceless country like Israel can dominate some 23 Arab countries with a population nearly as large as the United States.

IMPRISONED, TRAPPED, AND UNPREPARED BY ARAFAT (July 31, 2001) Arafat has once again trapped and imprisoned his own people -- keep reading. Wherever he has set up his headquarters corruption, repression, nepotism, and scandal have followed. And always these realities of what we have termed the "Arafat regime" are exploited to further fracture and weaken the Palestinian people -- a people whose basic claim to independence, "return", and reparations should at this point be unassailable.

DECEPTIVE AND OUT OF FOCUS REPORTS (July 30, 2001) About that report published "in full" in the Saudi Royal Family London newspaper Al-Hayat over the weekend and then, it now appears erroneously, picked up by Israel's top newspaper Ha'aretz. We already mentioned that the whole thing seemed suspicious. And sure enough with the Monday dawn of a new week and a little fast checking it seems the author, long-time military analysis and close CIA confidant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Anthony Cordesman, says he didn't write it and the whole thing looks like a set-up.

AMERICAN STUDY: ISRAEL WOULD BE UNABLE TO REPEL ALL-OUT ARAB ATTACK (July 30, 2001) The report in Saturday's Ha'aretz is not up to their usual standards as names are misspelled and context missing -- it appears to be a journalistic quickie. But even so, and though the Israelis aren't going to admit it, they are becoming more nervous and insecure about their future. And among other reasons that's why they choose the heretofore unelectable Ariel Sharon as their Prime Minister.

CREEPING TEMPLE AND CREEPING EMBASSY (July 29, 2001) In 1967, as the Israeli army took control of all of Jerusalem, the Israeli Flag flew on what the Jews call "the Temple Mount" for the first time since Christ and Mohamed walked the area. Sensing what this could lead to General Moshe Dayan quickly ordered the flag lowered, turned the area that the Muslims call "the Noble Sanctuary", al Haram al Sharif, back over to the Islamic authorities, and though Israel claims sovereignty it's flag has never flown again over the area of the Temple Mount

THE BLEAK FUTURE TODAY IN THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM (July 29, 2001) It was "radical" groups that emplanted themselves in the city of Hebron a long time ago, back in fact when the Labor party was still supreme in Israeli affairs. And just look today at that city where the common forefather of both the Jews and the Arabs is buried.

POTENTIAL EXPLOSION IN JERUSALEM SUNDAY (July 28, 2001) Arab leaders have warned that a messianic Jewish organisation's plan to make the first move towards rebuilding the Biblical Temple in Jerusalem is a "dangerous step" that could lead to uncontrollable consequences.

JEWS PREPARE FOR JERUSALEM THIRD TEMPLE- AND SO FINALLY DO THE ARABS (July 28, 2001) After today's previous MER article was published -- "God War Emerging In Holy Land" -- this Agence France-Presse article has just come over the wires. Characteristically the representatives of the Hashemite Kingdom -- the regime that has been most complicitous in secretly collaborating with the Israelis for decades to control the Palestinians sandwiched between them -- are publicly posturing in one way while actually acting in another.

RELIGIOUS WAR EMERGING IN THE HOLY LAND (July 28, 2001) In the years since the turn of the millenium the Arab-Israeli conflict is being transformed into an even more dangerous and potentially cataclysmic Muslim-Jewish war. Ariel Sharon's "visit" to the Temple Mount last year, accompanied by a huge military force, helped sparked Intifada II -- make no mistake about that.

WAR CRIMES TRIALS FOR SHARON ET. AL.? (July 27, 2001) In the end the Israelis are likely to find a way to deal with this new situation. They have great resources at their disposal when it comes to the media, intelligence information, lobbying capabilities, help from key governments in the US, UK, and Germany. They have a long history of twisting things to their advantage one way or another. And those opposed to them have a long reputation for much the opposite in fact.

TWISTING ARAFAT UNTIL HE IS DEAD OR GONE (July 27, 2001) The Israelis probably prefer Arafat dead at this point; but not at their own hand, at least not directly. Indeed, many of those who used the "Oslo Peace Process" to end Intifada I probably thought Arafat would have either been assassinated or died by now, leaving behind a "peace process" legacy as did Anwar Sadat when he was gunned down by his own soldiers just a few years after reluctantly signing on-the-dotted-line at Camp David 1.

"WARNING! ELECTRIC FENCE" - "WARNING! ISRAELI ARMY" (July 26, 2001)
NEWSFLASH Thursday Evening 9pm ET: An Israeli teenager has been killed in a shooting attack in the West Bank and three bombs have gone off in the West Bank near Israeli vehicles. The attacks came hours after Palestinians buried a militant killed in an Israeli missile attack. Israeli tanks also shelled Palestinian police posts in a village north of Ramallah and a checkpoint run by Force 17, an elite unit of the police, south of the town, not far from the site of the shooting, said Palestinian security sources.

DEATH, REPRESSION, AND DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE. SHARON'S POLICY TO PROVOKE VIOLENCE IS WORKING (July 26, 2001) Everywhere the settlements continue to expand even as the Israelis constantly twist their words as well as the facts. The Israelis know very well what they are doing and what they want -- they are taking the land and the resources from the indigenous people and then isolating the people in what amount to ghettos and concentration camps calling them "autonomous" areas.

ISRAELI RIGHT STRIKES WHILE ISRAELI LEFT WRITES (July 25, 2001) The Israeli army is partially mobilized and positioned for a quick and multi-directional assault on the forces of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, ironically armed by the Israelis themselves in years past. Draft mobilization offices have been opened by the Israelis in key U.S. and European cities. The Israelis propaganda machine has been beefed up and already beginning to operate on all cylinders.

PALESTINIAN CIVIL WAR DRAWS CLOSER (July 25, 2001) "Israel says Arafat is not doing enough to bolster a US-brokered truce, demanding he arrest activists and stop attacks against armed Jewish settlers and soldiers in occupied areas of the West Bank and Gaza. But Arafat has said he is not in control of security in occupied areas. Palestinians blame Israel for the on-going violence"

WHAT'S UP FOR ARAFAT? (July 25, 2001) Ariel Sharon has always been scamming everyone. His long career in the military is full of deception and treachery in public while committing blood-curdling massacres in private. In the most notorious case of all, the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps of 1982 ...

OFFICIAL PLO VERSION OF CAMP DAVID (July 25, 2001) The latest dueling, in advance of the "big bang" which Arafat himself now says is definitely coming -- and whose real purpose by the Israeli right-wing is to end the "Oslo Peace Process" once and for all -- is a battle for public opinion conducted through a convoluted debate over who offered what to whom and who is responsible for the failing of the "peace process".

REGIONAL WAR POSSIBILITIES (July 24, 2001) The following two articles are from publications associated with Janes Intelligence Weekly in the U.K. But what's looked at here are the short-term implications and the correct assessment that the very weak and in most cases U.S.-controlled Arab "client regimes" in the region will find one way or another to avoid any military clashes with the vastly superior Israelis.

PALESTINIAN CIVIL WAR LOOMS (July 24, 2001) Those who have read MER for some time know that we have long indicated that one of the Israeli goals was to foment a Palestinian civil war.
Some of the Israelis, dubbed the "peace camp", preferred to twist Arafat into totally succumbing and signing some kind of "end of conflict" agreement along with creation of a rump and everywhere-controlled Palestinian State.

NEW BATTLE FOR HISTORY (July 24, 2001) The latest dueling, in advance of the "big bang" -- whose real purpose by the Israeli right-wing is to end the "Oslo Peace Process" once and for all -- is a battle for public opinion conducted through a convoluted debate over who offered what to whom and who is responsible for the failing of the "peace process".

THE BIG LIES (July 21, 2001) Goebbels himself could not have done a better job. For those who don't recognize the name, check back in the not too distant history books under the heading Nazi Information Ministry.

ISRAEL SET TO ATTACK ACCORDING TO CIA (July 20, 2001) At first we had the adjective "cowardly" as a preface to "Arabs" in the headline. Let's be clear what we mean here. We're not talking about the Arab peoples, nor about those who do the brave struggling...and the real suffering...and the bleeding and the dying.

WAR DRUMS IN THE HOLY LAND (July 20, 2001) No way to know for sure, but if we had to predict at this moment the "Big Bang" (see previous "War Drums" articles for context) will be heard not this week but next after the Maccabiah games have ended and the G8 leaders survive Genoa.

AMERICANS GET ANOTHER WARNING (July 19, 2001) With the unprecedented "Red Zone" in Genoa; with key Washington buildings surrounded by concrete and high-tech survelliance; and with Americans warned again by their government to "beware" following on last month's Threatcon Delta alert; the "terrorists" have already accomplished a small part of their goal.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND ARAB LEAGUE OFFER LITTLE BUT WORDS AND A FEW BUCKS (July 19, 2001) It's that little old problem rearing it's ugly head again -- calls that come much too late and even then call for much too little. Worse yet the calls come in very self-serving ways from persons and institutions whose past records make them not very credible, and certainly not very potent.

FINALLY BURYING OSLO (July 18, 2001) The "Oslo Peace Process" -- which would have been more aptly named the "Rabin" or the "Clinton" -- has been brain-dead for some time now; kept alive only by extraordinary life-support efforts by its parent surrogates.

TINDERBOX AWAITS MATCH (July 17, 2001) "This could result in a bloodbath and thereby set the entire
region aflame. It's not out of the question that demonstrations
could topple unpopular regimes in Jordan, Egypt or Saudi
Arabia... The tinderbox is awaiting a match."

ARAFAT FADING (July 17, 2001) It's beginning to appear that it's just a matter of time now for Arafat to finally be gone. As far as the Israelis and Americans are concerned, it no longer really matters like it use to.

ISRAELIS PUSHING HARD TO PROVOKE MORE PALESTINIAN ATTACKS (July 16, 2001) A few years ago when the Americans essentially forced Yasser Arafat to sign one of those deals, this one about Hebron, that was supposed to push the "peace process" forward, it was foreseeable that sooner rather than later Hebron would once again erupt.

MUBARAK REGIME EARNS ITS PAY ONCE AGAIN (July 15, 2001) Today the Egyptians hosted Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat in Cairo. It's a replay of this kind of thing they've been doing for quite some years now. The Egyptians are at it again, fronting for the Americans as they have ever since the original Camp David extravaganza in 1978.

WAR DRUMS FROM ISRAEL (July 15, 2001) Longtime top adviser to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Osama el-Baz, has issued a not-so-veiled warning to the Israelis not to attack Syria. The head of Egyptian military intelligence rushed to Israel a few days ago supposedly to warn the Israelis not to dethrone Yasser Arafat.

RACE TO NUCLEAR WAR (July 14, 2001) While the Israelis and the Arabs confront each other in a conflict that may now last for a very long time and even lead to a Middle East holocaust in the future; and while the other "peace process" in Northern Ireland also collapses due to its similar duplicitous nature; it is in the subcontinent that the race toward a possible nuclear conflagration is furthest advanced at this moment in history.

PREPARING FOR THE WAR OF HIS CHOOSING (July 13, 2001) What we feared has come true: Two ethno-national groups, living in
each other's backyards, are going through a proces of regression to
superstitious tribalism. The sounds of the drums are heard throughout
the land calling both tribes to gather around the campfire, dress in the
colors of war and head out to battle to eliminate the very last member
of the other side.

INVASION WATCH? (July 13, 2001) What are we to call this situation? "War Watch"...no, the sides are far too uneven, it's not really going to be a war...not unless one or more of the Arab regimes should find itself cornered or facing revolution.

WEST WING PARTIALLY EVACUATED (July 12, 2001) A few barks from the sniffers dogs and even after all the security checks required to get into the White House grounds the Secret Service pulled the alarm and quickly began the evacuation procedure.

ISRAELIS GENERALS' PLAN TO "SMASH" PALESTINIANS (July 12, 2001) Israeli generals have updated plans for an all-out assault to smash the Palestinian authority, force out leader Yasser Arafat and kill or detain its army, according to a report published Thursday in London.

JANES "FOREIGN REPORTS" DETAILS ISRAELI INVASION PLAN (July 12, 2001) The report that a force of some 30,000 Israeli troops is preparing to take on Arafat's "Authority" and bring it to an end was just published in one of the most reputable international publications, one published by the Janes Intelligence network in the U.K. and available only to members who pay a sizeable yearly subscription fee.

BULLDOZERS PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE "BIG BANG" (July 11, 2001) It's all part of the same game. The Israelis think they have the Palestinians trapped. They publicly debate how to put them in their place with bulldozers, expulsions, invasion, awaiting the "big bang".

ISRAELIS UNDER SIEGE WITH ARAFAT FACING HIS OWN (July 10, 2001) Nearly half of the Israeli Jewish population got a stern warning yesterday - don't drink the water. Today Israel's lifeline, it's international airport between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, is under virtual siege with huge traffic jams as all vehicles undergo the kind of rigorous fender-to-fender inspection previously reserved for just "Arab" cars with special blue plates.

ALGERIA READY TO EXPLODE (July 10, 2001) While the legacy of British colonialism still lingers in Palestine and Kashmir, still threatening cataclysmic conflict in both regions, in Algeria it is the legacy of French colonialism, which also of course still has loud echoes in Lebanon and Syria.

WAR IS IN THE AIR - Part 2 (July 10, 2001) The Egyptians are arming with missiles to deter Israeli strikes against Egyptian cities or strategic targets such as the Aswan dam. These may be conceived as deterrent weapons; but they also could be used in other situations.

WAR IS IN THE AIR - Part 1 (July 9, 2001) "The stage, therefore, has been set for the outbreak of the
next wear: wall-to-wall political approval for a military solution
to the current crisis, the appropriate international preparations
during the period of restraint."

THE STAGE IS NOW SET (July 7, 2001) This is the way such things are done these days. Lots of testing of the waters. Lots of preparing the way. Lots of trial balloons. If (probably no longer when) the Israelis "remove" Arafat one way or another -- just as it was they who put him where he is in the first place -- it will no longer come as such a great shock.

FENCING THE PALESTINIANS IN - "UNILATERAL SEPARATION" (July 6, 2001) Having to a considerable extent succeeding in colonizing the "occupied territories", especially the most important areas around Jerusalem and the most cultivatable areas along with the crucial water resources, the Israelis are now ready for more fences and barricades.

STOPPING SHARON - PROBABLY TOO LATE (July 6, 2001) He's not likely to be stopped now. He's prepared most of his life for this moment in history. And as Israeli Prime Minister for just the past few months he's already visited the American President twice, Downing Street, and now both Germany and France, applauded in public more for his "restraint" as the "new Sharon" rather than for his war criminal past and the neo-apartheid oppression machine he now bears full responsibility for.

ISRAELIS TO NOW KILL MORE PALESTINIAN ACTIVISTS (July 4, 2001) Ariel Sharon and his government are preparing the way to kill more Palestinian street and faction leaders using various forms of high-tech assassination. They are also preparing world public opinion not only for bringing the Arafat "Authority" to an end but for killing and expelling as many Palestinians as circumstances will allow.

THE REAL ARAFAT (July 3, 2001) Of course Sharon's comment yesterday is ridiculous. Problem is the strategy behind it is not. "You must comply, resistance is futile" is indeed the loud message from Sharon to Arafat; and Sharon does intend to prove his words in the weeks and months ahead, make no mistake about that.

THE REAL SHARON, MASKED AND PREPARING FOR ANOTHER "GREEN LIGHT" (July 2, 2001) Ariel Sharon has Yasser Arafat cornered now -- right where he wants him. Sharon has in essence forced Arafat to publicly call off the Intifada -- or else Sharon made it rather clear, most of all to his American allies, that he would call off Arafat's regime whatever the consequences.

5 PALESTINIANS KILLED SUNDAY (July 1, 2001) Five Palestinian militants have been killed by Israeli forces, three in a pinpoint helicopter attack and two in a clash with soldiers.
The helicopter fired missiles at a car in which the three men were travelling near Qabatiye in the northern West Bank, Palestinian security officials said.

SYRIA STRUCK FOR SECOND TIME SINCE SHARON BECAME PM (July 1, 2001) The Arabs have an amazing tolerance for being struck. Partly it is because of their weakness of course; coupled with their long history of subjugation and occupation. But those who know Arab society also are aware that after taking it and taking it there sometimes comes a moment of powerful emotional uproar screaming for revenge.

SHARON PLAYS THE PALESTINIANS OFF AGAINST EACH OTHER (July 1, 2001) While Ariel Sharon uses the greatest pressure of all so far in order to bow the Arafat regime into submission -- the possibility of crushing Arafat's "Authority" through brut military force -- at the same time he holds out the carrot.